This hatred of Rome became a breeding ground for the so-called daggers, or sicarii. They were mostly young men, not satisfied with dreams of the imminent coming of the Messiah and the coming triumph of Israel, but turning to direct action — to individual terror directed against the Romans and their local henchmen. Political terror quite easily turned into a purely criminal robbery, which increased the General instability of this time. Thanks to the harsh measures of the Roman procurators, the sicarian movement was more or less suppressed, but the memories of their actions remained for a long time. Very little is known of the sicarii, but from what is known it follows that religious questions occupied their minds in the least degree.

The Essenes, or Essenes, were representatives of a purely religious movement. They believed that the official priesthood had betrayed the divine institutions, and completely broke with the Jewish community. The Essenes organized their communities, mostly in the desert or elsewhere outside the cities. They have created their doctrine, their priesthood, even their calendar, which allows them to celebrate religious holidays on other days than the rest of the Jews. The Essenes were opposed to slavery and property distinctions (in some communities all the property of those who joined these communities was socialized), and some against the family. Many of the Essenes believed that they had made a new Covenant with God, a new Covenant different from the old one, which official Judaism had betrayed. The founder of the movement, or at least one of the congregations, was believed to Be a teacher of righteousness killed by an unholy priest.

It is possible that close to the Essenes was a group led by John. John maintained that the day of God’s wrath was at hand, and that the only way to be saved from that wrath was by renouncing the slightest sins. The rich should share their property with the poor, and the soldiers should refuse to kill. And everyone should repent. The sign of repentance and the condition of future salvation is to bathe in the sacred waters of the Jordan. This ablution was also a sign of cleansing from all previous life and entering into a new life full of virtue. In this new life, John’s disciples must not only not commit sins, but also completely separate themselves from this sinful world with its riches and temptations. Absolutely confident in his rightness and purity of his faith, John sharply denounced the unrighteousness of the Jewish nobility, including the high priesthood, its betrayal of the commandments of Moses, its violation of elementary ethical standards. In his sermon he did not spare the descendants of king Herod, in particular Herod Antippus, who married his niece Herodias, which was considered a terrible sin by Orthodox Jews. This sin was even more terrible because it was committed by the ruler, and this could have a very serious impact on the fate of his subjects. Herod Antipas, perhaps influenced by his wife, took harsh measures: John was executed. However, the criticism of John, apparently, was not the only reason for the execution of the latter: Herod Antipas was afraid of the growing popularity of the preacher, whose diatribes found an increasing echo in the popular environment and could lead to popular unrest. In his intransigence, John resembled the long-mythical Elijah, and many people were convinced that John was Elijah, who had returned to earth and foreshadowed the imminent appearance of the Messiah.